We'll Figure it Out
by AdriDee
Summary: Julie feels her life is shattering in pieces. After her parents turn her away, she goes to the next person she felt she could always turn to: Matt. Things aren't how she hoped during her stay but then Matt gives her four words that gives her faith.
1. Julie's Perspective

"We'll Figure it Out"

**PAIRING**: Matt Saracen & Julie Taylor

**TV SHOW**: Friday Night Lights! (BEST TV show on air right now!)

**DESCRIPTION**: What was going on through this couple's heads at their very last scene in episode 5x09: "Gut Check". Julie is going through the darkest time of her life and feeling absolutely hopeless; but just like always, Matt Saracen gives her four words that take away her worry.

**SPOILER**: JUST finished watching the LATEST episode; so if you haven't seen "Gut Check" yet and don't want to be spoiled, then I suggest you not read this.

**NOTE**: The more I look into this couple and analyze (I swear, I'm ALWAYS trying to tap into EVERY character and wanting to know WHY they do the things they do) the more I love them. Yes, Julie made a horrible mistake and she NEEDS to grow up and face it, but its difficult to when she is all by herself in that city. It's not easy; take it from someone who after a year of moving from home was going through some identity issues and wanted to go back to mom and daddy. It took 2 years to overcome it...by myself. I get where Julie is coming from and I very much love Malie because I believe they are perfect for one another and are each other's "safety net." Anyways, enough mumbo jumbo! :P

**DISCLAIMER**: I do nooooot own anything of "Friday Night Lights." All those rights are reserved to the author Buzz, Mr. Katims, ABC, Direct TV, and a whole bunch of other people. I, sadly, do not contribute ANYTHING to this amazing show…just an OBSESSION!

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(JULIE'S PERSPECTIVE)

"Alright," Matt said as he picked up Julie's remaining items from the concrete. "So…you charged your cell phone?" He turned to look at her.

Julie fiddled around with her keys and the moment his face turned towards hers, she avoided eye contact focused her attention elsewhere. "Yeah."

He closed the door. "If you need gas, there's a gas station just…"

She began to shuffle her feet around. She noticed her body kept being pulled towards Matt's and in the last few days, she would have gladly given in, but his words from yesterday-about him not wanting to be her _safety net_-kept replaying back in her head and she restrained herself from getting too close to him.

_I _don't _want to be your safety net_, his exact words to her. They had hurt because during their entire relationship while he was going through his overbearing responsibilities with his grandmother, attempting to fill the shoes of legendary Jason Street, dealing with his emotions with his estranged mother, and trying to come to terms with his father's death she had been there. Besides Matt's best friend Landry, Julie had been the only one that was aware of the weight that was on Matt's shoulders. She heard his pain, saw the agony, witnessed the challenges a teenager should never encounter.

Matt never complained and only cried to her several times about the hardships in his life. He would talk about his troubles and Julie gladly listened. Mainly because she knew it helped him cope. And she didn't want him facing everything alone. She wanted to be there for him because he was honestly-next to her father-the best man she knew. Every fiber in him was good. There was not a single side of Matt that Julie did not come to love. And with every story he told her, with every word that came out of his mouth, Julie got to know a different side of Matt Saracen that no one else in the world knew about. The smaller reason why she gladly listened to Matt was because she believed that if ever there was a time she would come to need someone, Matt would be there for her without hesitation.

She had made a horrible mistake and she had gone back to Dillion because she had lost her way and needed guidance. However, within a week of being there, her parents-who she had always been her biggest support system-turned her away. She wasn't ready to face her real life and needed more time to digest everything, so she turned towards the third person most important in her life: Matt.

She knew it would come to a point with Matt where he would push her towards going back to school and facing her skeletons; however, she never believed he would tell her he didn't want to be there for her.

After everything they had gone through-even if they weren't together as a romantic couple-Julie believed Matt's friendship would always be there. Guess she had been proven wrong. She didn't know why she was so surprised. Everything in her life was becoming upside down anyways.

Julie took some steps away from Matt. She couldn't be so close to him. It hurt too much.

She noticed Matt taking some steps towards her. "Right around the corner over there."

His voice and accent weren't helping any. She didn't know what she wanted to do more at that moment: drive off as fast as possible or pull Matt into a kiss.

She restrained. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just kinda wanna get out before there's too much traffic." She gave him a slight smile. Even though she was frustrated and mad and disappointed, she didn't want him to think she hated him.

He slight pained look came across his face as he gave a nod. "Right."

There was a moment of silence.

She hated awkward moments. Especially with Matt. Moments between them were rarely awkward. "So, um, thanks for the hospitality."

He had taken some steps towards her again and she reached over to hug him. What she really wanted to do was kiss him, but she didn't think it'd be a good idea.

The hug was of course awkward.

"Yeah." Matt's voice gave a hint of pain. Julie didn't know what to make of it. He wanted her gone so she wouldn't dump all of this on him, right? Then why did he sound as bad as she felt?

She couldn't look him in the eye. She felt tears beginning to form and her throat was growing a knot. She had to get the hell out of there.

Julie opened her door and got into the car. As she got the car out of the parking spot, she dared not look up to see Matt. She was leaving. And looking at him would make it worse. God, she felt as if someone was stabbing her repeatedly across her heart.

He was looking at her, she could feel his eyes. She could always feel his eyes. But she couldn't dare. She continued to drive off. Drive away from Matt. And she knew that with the words said yesterday and with the lack of words said to each other today, once she drove off today, it would be the last of Matt she would see or hear from. She could never trust him with her feelings again. Ever.

With as much strength she could muster, she drove.

Alone. No one there with her.

Then, she faintly heard her name. At first, she brushed it off, thinking it was just her imagination. But a second later, she heard it again. _Was that Matt?_ she asked herself as she looked in the review mirror.

Matt was now running towards her. She hit her breaks the moment he reached her car.

Her heart began to race. What was he doing?

"Jules-hey. Stop," he said once he got to her door.

She looked up at him. _God, please, Matt. _She didn't know what it was she was expecting from him or what she was begging him for, but she prayed he had something to tell her that would help her get through this.

"Just-" Matt took the door handle and opened her door. Then, he reached for her door and guided her out of the car.

Her heart would not stop racing. _Please, Matt._ Again, she didn't know what she was pleading for as she stared into those gorgeous baby blues. The river she easily would fall into and drown time and time again.

His soft hands caressed her face on either end and he gently pulled her towards him. His face embraced hers. "It's all gonna be ok, alright?" he whispered lovingly.

His words and touch broke through her. The wall she had up some minutes ago came tumbling down.

"We'll figure this out," he promised to her and pulled her into an embrace.

_We_. That's what she had been wanting from Matt.

Even though Julie had fought it-twice already-there was no sense in avoiding it anymore. The moment she had left Dillion to head back to school and she had called up Derek, an epiphany had come to her. Matt was everything she ever could or ever want to be with. The first time she had broken up with him in the beginning of her sophomore year, she had been too scared; too frightened. She was only 15 years old and she had not been ready to for those feelings and that commitment with him. And the second time she broke up with him again almost a year ago, Julie was afraid of losing her self identity. But during college, without Matt, she didn't have one. Although she had her own separate life and independence, Matt was a big part of it. They were meant to be.

And she had believed Matt had always known this and believed that once in Chicago Matt and her would easily fall into place. However, the other night she had doubted it, but now her faith in her and Matt were taking shape again.

With Matt's support, she would go back to school, face her exams, and plan to move here to Chicago to be with him.

God, she _loved_ him. More than she had come to know in the last four years of knowing him. She had fought it for so long, but she didn't want to anymore.

They heard a honk and Matt pulled away. She saw the anguish in his face and knew he was feeling the same as her. They had to separate.

"I love you," Julie said with all her heart and soul.

"I love you." God, she missed hearing those words coming from him. She hadn't realized until now.

She reached up and they kissed.

He pulled back slowly and looked at her with a heartbreaking look.

Julie had seen that look before. It had been the same one her father had on during the last half of her freshman year when he would leave for TMU and would leave her and her mom behind. And until now, she knew exactly how hard it had been for her mother when she had to separate from her father during that difficult time.

But, she needed to face her demons. Be an adult and deal with the fall.

She climbed back into her car and Matt closed the door. She started again to drive off, only this time with more confidence. Matt was with her. He had her. Just as she had him.

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**AN**: So, I always wanna get in the minds of my favorite characters and FNL has some of the BEST characters I have ever watched. They are so real and true and authentic. The writers and actors (who improv a LOOOOOT on the show) are amazing. It's easy to slip into the minds of them (at least it was for me).

I love this couple. I wasn't a fan of Julie's in the beginning of this season and in the first few episodes in season 2, but stepping back and talking about her with other fans of the show, I can wrap my head around her more. She's a teenager (not that it's an excuse) and she makes mistakes. Throughout the rest of the series, she has been consistent and has had a great head on her shoulders. There's no reason to prosecute her for a big mistake she made at **18** years old.

I love her and Matt together and looking back since season 1, I think they are the most stable relationship (of the young ones) on the show and the only one that will last. The other young couples, I don't see surviving past high school/college.

ANYWAY-boy, I can TALK!-Next chapter will be Matt's Perspective during that last scene.

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	2. Matt's Perspective

"We'll Figure it Out"

**NOTE**: So, this is Matt's perspective on that last scene in "Gut Check". Again, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read!

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(MATT'S PERSPECTIVE)

"Alright," Matt said as he picked up Julie's bag pack and suitcase from the concrete. "So…you charged your cell phone?" He asked as he turned to look at her. He hated her leaving and wanted to make small talk before she left.

Ever since yesterday, she had been distant. She wasn't acting mean or bitter, but she only would speak unless he asked her something. Her voice was small and timid. This was different from all the other times they had had arguments. Whenever she was angry with him, she would either give him the silent treatment, snap at him, call him out on what she believed to be BS, or would wear a scowl on her face whenever he was in the same room as her. She wasn't doing any one of these things now. It confused the hell out of him and he didn't know how to respond.

He noticed that the moment he turned to her, she stepped away and looked another direction. "Yeah," she said simply.

Her face contained no anger. But…hurt?

He closed the door. He wanted to reach over and hold her in his arms, but restrained. The reason why he had kind of snapped at her yesterday was because he didn't want to be _that guy_. He didn't want to be a Landry. And when Julie had told him about her college drama, he believed the only reason she had come to visit him was because she needed a friend and nothing else. She was using him for her own means. She was a Tyra.

Matt had seen Landry gawking after Tyra and being a puppy dog for her for three years, and Matt refused to be _that guy_. He had just turned 20. He was too old for these games. He wanted her to be there because she wanted to be _with _him-not for her to _use _him. He loved Julie. Always would. He had never stopped needing her in his life, but he refused to be her door mat. "If you need gas, there's a gas station just…"

However much he wanted to restrain from Julie, his body kept being pulled towards her. Every step she took away from him, he would get hauled after her.

"Right around the corner over there." He motioned towards across the street.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just kinda wanna get out before there's too much traffic." She gave him a slight smile.

_Get out_. She was leaving. He felt as if someone was punching him in the stomach. He wanted to let out that he wanted her to stay and wanted to be together. But then the idea of Landry and Tyra kept coming back. "Right," he said.

There was a moment of silence.

He knew how much those annoyed Julie. Awkward moments didn't happen very often between them and whenever they did, she would bring it to light and they would kind of laugh about it. He anticipated it coming.

"So, um, thanks for the hospitality." She awkwardly reached over to him and gave him a weird hug.

He frowned. This wasn't what he was expecting. She was definitely not behaving as she normally did whenever she had a bratty moment or was angry with him at all. This wasn't the Julie he was familiar with. She was acting mature through this whole thing and was being sincere. She didn't want to cause drama or snap at him because she knew he had a point. It got him annoyed for some reason, because this only made him hurt more. The fact that she was facing the consequences of all her actions and accepting them made him rethink the whole Landry and Tyra scenario.

"Yeah." He waited to see if she would look at him straight in the eye. If she would, he could know for sure what was going through her mind. What she was feeling. Because right now, it felt to him as if she was feeling something she didn't experience very often. And he didn't know what it was.

However, she didn't meet his eyes and got into her car.

And that's when he saw it. For just a brief moment there in her face. Abandonment.

Matt knew too much of that feeling. He had felt it when his mother had been out of his life, when Coach Taylor left to TMU, the countless times his father would get deported, and lastly during his father's death.

The pressures of being the man of house had been too great for him. He had been ok up until his Grandpa Joel died when he was 9 years old. That was when his grandmother had started getting nutty. For 6 years the only person he had to talk to was Landry, and sometimes that wasn't much help at all. All Landry would do was give Matt these weird theories about his grandmother and have off-the-wall conclusions of his father. It made Matt feel even more alone.

It was a feeling he had felt for too long but had not been felt for over a year. He had come to terms with his dead father-mostly-and had forgiven his mother and Coach Taylor for leaving him. He had let go of the past and started looking forward to the future.

But that had been because of Julie. Since the moment he had befriended her. He had had a crush on her for years, but his sophomore year the crush had gotten stronger and from the moment they started dating and started a friendship, he felt at such ease with her when it came to talking. As their relationship bloomed, he kept telling her things he had never spoken out loud before. Things he thought but never dared say. And unlike Landry, she didn't respond. She had a look in her eye all the time and Matt couldn't quite make out what it was. But she kept silent and simply _listened _to him.

It was his therapy. Other than art, talking about his troubles and his past and his family to Julie allowed Matt to let go of the feeling of abandonment. He had a feeling sophomore year that even if he and Julie didn't make it as a couple, she was an amazing friend he always wanted in his life.

He saw her beginning to drive off. She still did not look at him. She looked ahead with an emptiness look in her eye.

Then, images and memories of her flashed quickly in his mind.

"_Am I really that pathetic?" asked Matt while chuckling but being serious at the same time._

_His father had been back for over a week and was struggling with life back at Dillon. Matt had left the house and was sitting on the steps, needing to clear his mind from a few things. Julie had come over with some food prepared for him. He felt like a complete loser and had a feeling Julie pitied him._

"_No, you're not pathetic," she said with a tone full of honesty as she sat down next to him. "You just do so much that I just thought you could use some help out."_

_He looked into her eyes and he searched through them. There was no sign of pity. She was doing this for him to _help_._

_Matt knew he loved her. Had realized it some time ago, and looking into her hazel eyes he was able to look a little into the goodness of her soul, and that made him fall in love with her deeper. She was honest and sincere and so good to him. She did simple things for him; like listened and make his grandmother some tea, without asking anything in return._

He spilled his guts to her that night. He wanted to let out his emotions and disappointments and he knew Julie would listen. She had that essence about her that allowed him to talk freely.

"_Matt, you can just get angry," she said to him softly._

"_No, I can't. He's trying. What else can you really ask of anyone?"_

_Yes, his father was doing his best and Matt didn't expect anything more. However, that didn't stop Matt from feeling so overburden and worried. His mind began to question things again._

_He felt Julie nudge him. He looked back and saw her simple smile. One that said, 'everything's alright. You're not alone in this.' And then she leaned in and gave him simple peck. As if she was saying 'I'm here.'_

_She kept her forehead pressed against his. They stayed in silence as their eyes locked. Yes, there were no words between them at the moment, but there was so much being said. Through her eyes, she was asking him for some of his burden. She wanted it. Wanted to help him more than anything._

_It was one of the most difficult decisions he made. He had taken so much weight for most of his life and had never asked anyone to help him. But there Julie was. A girl who came from the most wonderful parents; came from a great upbringing and had never felt the meaning of responsibilities. She didn't have to take any of his cargo, but she wanted to._

_Her eyes asked him again. _Are you sure?_ he asked her with his eyes._

_She answered with a most sincere smile._

_He let out a sigh and gave in. Allowed her to enter his chaotic life and take some of his baggage._

That was the first time Matt allowed anyone to enter him in that way. Allowed him to reach into a part of his soul and stay there.

Images of his father's death kept coming to Matt's mind and he remembered how during that time, Julie further entered him.

During his father's funeral, it had been Julie who was at his side; her hand wrapped around his. Whenever he felt it was too much he would lean against her and she would take the weight for a while.

Countless times she had been his rock. Countless times she had taken away his loneliness whenever he felt it. Never had she complained. Never had she walked out on him because she felt his life was too much for her to bear.

It hit him them. The truth. Julie was no Tyra Collette. She was more of a Landry Clarke. It was Matt who was a Tyra. He would turn to Julie every time he had troubles-which he did a lot of times. Julie, coming from the good family she did, hardly had any troubled times. Right now was the moment she truly had troubles. She felt abandoned by her parents and needed an ear and support. She needed someone to lean on.

Just like Landry with Tyra, Julie loved Matt and would do anything for him. She really loved him. And yes, probably saw Matt as her safety net. But what was wrong with that? They were two halves of a whole. One could not do it without the other.

He couldn't let her leave. He couldn't **not** support her when she needed him the most. What had he been thinking?

"Julie!" He ran towards her. "Julie!"

He came to her car and she hit the breaks. "Jules-hey. Stop."

She looked up at him, confusion and hurt on her face.

"Just-" he opened the door. He needed her. Right now. In his arms.

She got out of the car and the moment he did, he touched her skin and pulled her close to him. "It's all gonna be ok, alright? We'll figure this out."

She nodded and he saw the tears beginning to come down. He held her and took some of her burden, just as she had done for him so many times.

He was going to be there for her. Because he wanted to. Because he needed to. Because they came in a packaged deal. Whatever she had to go through, he had to as well.

He heard a honk and with great effort and pain, pulled away and saw an angry driver motioning him to move out of the street.

Matt turned back to Julie, seeing her one last time before she left to face her life on her own. He wanted her to know he would be there. To hear her and to be her rock.

"I love you," she whispered to him.

He hadn't heard those words in almost a year and once she said them, he realized how much he had missed them.

"I love you." He leaned into her. Forehead against forehead and took more burden from her.

They kissed and held onto each other. He knew. Everything _would_ be alright. They loved each other and supported one another. Nothing else was needed.

With strength, he stepped away from her, allowing her to leave him physically once more. It was unbearable. He wanted to climb into the passenger's side and leave with her. But he couldn't. She needed to leave to work things out. Then, he didn't know at the moment what would be the next step. Maybe he would finish the semester here at AI Chicago and head back to Texas to be with him. He had to look into it as soon as she left. At the moment, all he could feel was the separation from her. The beginning of physical agony of what he would be facing the next coming days, or weeks, or months without her with him.

He looked at her and saw the pain across her face. She was feeling it too. She didn't want to climb into that car and leave him, but needed to.

He closed her door…and allowed her to leave. But he was there for her and together, they would find a way to be together again physically…and when that came around, it would be permanently.

Matt knew that _she _now knew what _he_ had known for four years. They were meant to end up together. Meant to be for the rest of days. And now that they were both aware of it and were accepting it. There would be no more physical separation again the next time they would meet. Never again.

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**AN**: REVIEW REVIEW! :D


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